Author's note: This chapter, Team RWBY will finally fuse into one. And of course, nothing can go wrong. Nope. Not one thing. Not at all. No sir.
The day after Penny's supposed death was announced, the people of Mantle demanded new elections, but the people in Atlas, including General Ironwood, insisted they give it some time to get used to the new council member. Team RWBY was standing at the docks, along with Jaune, Ren, Nora and Qrow, to try a fusion of four people. Sirena was hiding under an invisibility field along with Cucurbita, as per the General's instructions.
"So, how do we do this?" Weiss asked.
"I'd say the two of us fuse," Ruby answered, "And then we fuse with Bumblebee."
"Sounds like a plan," Yang said.
"Alright, let's do this," Blake said. She and Yang fused into Bumblebee, and Ruby fused with Weiss. Their fusion had long black hair with red and white tips, and silver eyes. She wore knee-high black boots with white soles, red laces and white fur trims on top. She also wore black tights and a black combat skirt with red tulle and a stylized snowflake made from white fabric on top. She also wore a black corset over a white long-sleeved shirt, and the sleeves turned light blue towards the ends.
"Looks pretty good," Bumblebee said and asked, "So, what about your name?"
"Iceflower sounds fitting," Iceflower answered, "And thanks."
"And what's that?" Bumblebee asked, pointing at the staff on Iceflower's back. She reached behind herself and grabbed it. When she swung it around a bit, it extended into a large halberd with an axe head on one side, a pike on the other, and a spear facing forward, all of which were connected to a dust storage able to hold a dozen cartridges, and the weapon also had a sniper rifle built into its handle.
"This is my argument enhancer," Iceflower answered, "You know, for when Grimm refuse to leave the people here alone." Suddenly, a Sea Feilong rose from the ocean, but before it could even fully unfold its wings, Iceflower used her silver eyes to turn it to stone. Everyone but Cucurbita closed their eyes, and she copied the fusion's semblance.
"Headaches, here I come," Iceflower said, with Weiss' voice being more prominent.
"Sorry, force of habit," Iceflower said, now with Ruby's voice more prominent.
"Don't worry," Bumblebee said, "If everything goes as planned, we'll just make you some painkillers as well."
"No," Iceflower said, with Ruby's voice being very prominent, "We just make those ships, and nothing more. No stray thoughts at all. I don't know how long we can hold that fusion, but we can't risk messing this up."
"Alright, alright," Bumblebee said and asked, "Ready?"
"Sure," Iceflower answered. The two fusions shook hands and then pulled each other into a hug before fusing. A bright light blinded the people standing nearby, and when it disappeared three seconds later, there were two massive cargo ships in the water, as well as a small fisher boat, and all of Team RWBY were lying on the floor.
"Thank the gods," Jaune said, checking their pulses "They're just unconscious." He got them away from the water, while Qrow called for pickup.
~o~
When Ruby opened her eyes, the entire room was spinning and she felt completely off-balance. She heard the door open and Jaune slowly walked into the dorm room, careful not to disturb anyone who might still sleep.
"Hey Jaune," Ruby said, still a bit tired.
"Yang, thank goodness you're awake," Jaune said, "The others are still asleep, but it worked."
"Y- Yang?" Ruby asked and looked at her hands, realizing with sinking horror that the right one was prosthetic. Jaune was busy checking everyone else's temperature and generally making sure they were alright.
"Well, yes," Jaune answered and asked, "You do remember who you are, right?"
"O- of course," Ruby answered and asked, "Just… could you give me a mirror?"
"Sure, here you go," Jaune answered and handed Ruby a mirror. She took it with her natural hand, and while she did see a pair of silver eyes stare back at her, they were framed in Yang's unyielding, fluffy, yellow mess of hair.
"Jaune…" Ruby said and asked, "Would you be very concerned if I wasn't Yang?"
"Could you two please tone it down?" Blake asked in a whisper. She looked around and Ruby immediately noticed that Blake had light blue eyes. Ruby handed her friend the mirror, and when she looked at it, she jerked back in shock. She hit her head at the back of her bunk bed and fell out of bed, landing perfectly on all fours.
"Wait, what?" Whoever was in Ruby's body asked as she saw Blake's body slowly, and wobbly, get back up, speaking a bit louder than normal. Weiss's body rushed up and hit her head on the bottom of Ruby's bunk bed, and both fell out of their beds. Ruby tried maneuvering Yang's body out of bed safely, but fell down and knocked Blake's body to the ground as well.
"Ruby, are you alright?" Jaune asked, going to help Ruby's body up.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ruby answered, surprising Jaune a bit, and he finally noticed the different eye colors.
~o~
A few minutes after the girls woke up in each other's bodies, they met with Jaune, Ren, Nora, Qrow, Penny, Sirena and Maria, to discuss the situation. Ruby had her sister's luscious golden locks tied to a ponytail to keep the hair out of literally everywhere else, even though she didn't like reaching where Yang had stored some of her smaller belongings.
"So, who's who?" Qrow asked.
"I'm Ruby," Ruby answered.
"I'm Weiss," Weiss, who was stuck in Blake's body, answered in a whisper.
"I'm Blake," Ruby's body answered, shouting a little.
"And I'm Yang," Weiss' body answered.
"How did this even happen?" Nora asked. She didn't seem concerned, but rather interested in replicating the event.
"Well, you see," Yang answered, "I may have thought about Ruby needing to improve her hand to hand combat ability."
"That explains why I'm in your body," Ruby said and asked, "But what about you?"
"Maybe I can explain," Weiss answered in a whisper, but louder than before, "It is possible that I got a bit upset about how rough and, quite frankly, uncivilized Yang always is. But that doesn't explain why I'm in Blake's body."
"I can explain," Blake answered, just barely louder than normal, "Ever since I first met you, I've always wanted to see you try survive just one day as a faunus in Atlas, and when we fused, the idea just came up again. It was just a passing thought though, I promise. And it doesn't explain why I'm in Ruby's body." Everyone looked at Ruby's body, but Blake nodded towards Yang's body, and they looked at her.
"I didn't do anything, I promise," Ruby said, "But, well, with your soul and my body being the only ones left, maybe they just stuck together like that." Suddenly, Weiss jumped at the wall, and everyone turned to Yang, who was holding a laser pointer in her left hand.
"Not funny," Weiss said, walking back over to the group. She still had some balance problems, due to having four ears all of a sudden.
"I just wanted to see which part of Blake has her instincts," Yang said.
"That's very interesting and all," Qrow said, "But Jacques is hosting a victory party, and you guys have been invited. He's postponing it until Ruby gets better, but you only got three days after you wake up."
"Why would he want me at the party?" Ruby asked.
"Mostly for publicity," Weiss answered, "The people of Mantle must really like you, now that they know what you can do, and if he makes it look like two get along, people will like him, too."
"That's stupid," Ruby said and asked, "Why should people like him just because I go to his party?"
"That's how Atlas works," Weiss answered, "But yes, it is somewhat stupid."
"So, what do we do now?" Blake asked and said, "I mean, if we can't fix this before the party, people will notice that something is off."
"Sirena, can you help?" Ruby asked and said, "I mean, we got into this because of our fusion's semblance, and you can disable semblances, so it should work." Jaune sensed that Sirena used one of her semblances, and recognized it from when they went on their mission to protect the school children.
"Sorry, but I can't," Sirena said, "I can only use it on a single target, not on four. And there is no telling what happens if I use it on one of you at a time."
"Great, now what?" Yang asked.
"I can get you colored contact lenses, while you get used to the situation," Sirena answered.
"This reminds me," Qrow said and asked, "Do you think Niob secretly has silver eyes, too?" Everyone looked at him weird for a moment, then Sirena burst out laughing, confusing everyone even more. Her laugh sounded more like a kind of singing than laughter, and was as entrancing as it was unusual.
"Wh- what gave you that idea?" Sirena asked and slowly calmed down again.
"I… never heard you laugh like that before," Ruby said.
"I didn't have much reason to before," Sirena said, "But this, this is hilarious. Niob having silver eyes. With his semblance. Of course."
"I just thought, since he has so many different semblances," Qrow said, "I mean, you, Ruby and Maria have all kinds of semblances too, so I figured it could be possible." Just like that, Sirena turned dead serious again.
"Never compare us to people like him again," Sirena said and walked off, leaving the rest of the group even more confused than before.
"Come to think of it," Ruby said and asked, "What is Niob's semblance?"
"To be honest, noone knows," Qrow answered, "At least, noone other than Niob, and apparently also Sirena."
"Then I know what I have to do," Ruby said.
"And what?" Qrow asked.
"I'll copy his semblance and see what it does," Ruby answered.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Maria said.
"Why not?" Ruby asked.
"You saw how Sirena reacted to Qrow's suggestion," Maria answered, "If that is anything to go by, Niob's semblance may just be the most… problematic semblance in all of Remnant."
"Alright, let's try to narrow it down," Weiss said and asked, "What can he do?" Everyone looked at Qrow.
"Apparently, whatever he needs," Qrow answered, "He can disappear in shadows, create multiple clones of himself, control shadows, create explosions just by pointing at things, breathe under water, cool the air around him, and so on. At first I thought it was some advanced level of aura manipulation, but Grimm fear him, and some of the things he does simply aren't possible, even with all I know."
"Let's think about this later," Ruby said, "I still don't know how to use this arm properly, and I'm sure we all could use some practice to not make fools of ourselves at the party." She looked at her prosthetic arm, and the gun popped out. She experimented with it a bit more, much to Yang's shock, and put the arm through a lot of stress. An hour later, they got their contact lenses.
~o~
Over the next three days, the group practiced with each other's bodies to get used to them. Blake had a lot of fun messing with Weiss, but played it off as helping her get her feline instincts under control. Ruby discovered that she could turn into a dragon, sporting red scales, black bone spikes and silver eyes, as well as a crescent moon sickle for a tail. Yang took tea lessons with Winter, but spent most of the time looking for ways to get rid of the tea as efficiently and inconspicuously as possible. Blake got hounded by Ruby's fans, and had to evade them somehow.
~o~
When Team RWBY, Jaune, Ren, Nora, Qrow and Sirena arrived at the party, along with General Ironwood, Clover, Penny and Winter, Ruby's friends went to get everything ready. Sirena had shared one of her Telepathy semblances with Ruby, who would stay close to Blake in order to help her answer all sorts of questions people had for her. Yang went to look for proof that Jacques had cheated the election, and Weiss just walked around the mansion. People were still upset with Pietro, who had since admitted to faking Penny's deactivation. He had asked for understanding, rather than forgiveness, and most people were willing to forgive this short-sighted decision of a sentimental old man.
~o~
General Ironwood, Clover, Winter, Penny and Sirena went to talk with the rest of the council, and Sirena simply stood in the corner, acting rather casual.
"General," Jacques said and asked, "I can understand why you brought Clover and my daughter, but why is she here?" He pointed at Sirena, who returned his rather hostile look with a calm smile.
"I am simply interested in politics," Sirena answered, "And while I have read several books on the matter, I believe that, like fighting Grimm, one can only truly appreciate it if they experience it first hand."
"Well, y- yes, I," Jacques said, nervously fixed his tie and said, "A- alright, you can stay."
"Good, now that that is settled, I suppose we can begin with-" General Ironwood said, but was cut off by Jacques.
"Are we safe with her here?" Jacques asked, looked at Penny and said, "I do recall some confusion regarding her involvement in that horrific massacre."
"Attempted massacre," General Ironwood said, "And the footage was doctored. Penny is completely under my control."
"Which is concerning, I think," Jacques said.
"Concerning?" General Ironwood asked. A waiter brought plates of food, and another brought tea.
"Let's talk about what exactly it is you control," Jacques said.
"The fact of the matter is," Councilman Sleet began, "You have been operating with a fair amount of autonomy in recent years. But what we need now is for you to work with us." Winter began to scowl and angrily tapped her finger on the table.
"Sir, I have-" General Ironwood said, but was cut off by councilwoman Camilla.
"It is obvious that no kingdom wants to declare war on Atlas," she said, "We had no involved with the incident at Haven, and we have proof that our drones weren't acting on orders at Beacon. At this point, the closing of the borders is only going to harm our relations with the other kingdoms."
"I-" General Ironwood said, but was cut off again.
"The other kingdoms?" Robyn asked and said, "It's hurting us. The people of Atlas are suffering and they want to know why."
"Quite right, Miss Hill," Jacques said, looked at Ironwood and asked, "And it's not just your choices as of late that have brought harm to the citizens. Have your forces found any additional evidence as to who is slaughtering people down in Mantle?" Clover looked at Ironwood, but turned to Jacques when he began to speak.
"That is an ongoing investigation," Clover answered, "The details of which are classified, I'm afraid."
"I'm afraid of the… the-" Jacques said, nervously fixed his tie and asked, "Can you stop that?!" He stared right at Winter, and everyone looked at him for a moment, shocked about his sudden outburst.
"Are you alright?" Sirena asked, with her faked concern masking her joy over Ruby's plan working.
"Y- yes, I am fine," Jacques answered and said, "Now, let's continue. Without finger tapping."
"Fine," Winter said, "I'm leaving." She got up and left the room, and General Ironwood gave Penny a nod to go with her. After the doors closed, the conversation continued.
"Now, General, if I may be blunt," Jacques said, "We want to trust you, but the hacker who turned Atlas drones against us was never captured, and whoever has been murdering your critics is still at large. How are we supposed to trust you if you have given us nothing as of late?" Sirena watched the spectacle unfold. It didn't go exactly as Ruby had predicted, but it still went exactly as they needed it to play out for Ruby's plan to work.
~o~
Yang entered Jacques' study and closed the door behind herself. She had some trouble finding her way through the mansion, but Weiss had given her instructions over communicator. Ruby had also made her study a script of what to say, to make sure things would go as they needed to go.
"Hello darling," Willow said, standing behind a desk, "I'm sorry I couldn't come. I'm not feeling too well." She walked around the desk and set her bottle and glass down on it.
"That…" Yang began, but decided to screw the script, and said, "You know what? That's your own fault."
"What… do you mean?" Willow asked. Yang walked up to her and grabbed the bottle.
"This," Yang answered, tossed the bottle against the book shelf and said, "You can't just sit here and drown your problems in alcohol like you're some nobody rotting away in the streets down in Mantle. You're Willow Schnee, owner of the largest producer and seller of dust and dust accessories. Act like it."
"Weiss," Willow said as firmly as she could, but Yang took her scroll and pushed her back, sending her to the ground.
"I'll bring this back once Jacques is in jail," Yang said, "And I'll leave a number on it you can contact, should you decide to face your problems like an adult." After Yang had left the room, Willow looked at the puddle on the floor, and noticed that it formed her family crest. She took a deep breath and held her right hand as if she was holding a plate or something similar, and after a moment of focusing, a summoning glyph formed over it.
~o~
Down in Mantle, Arthur was standing on a rooftop with his umbrella to ward off the rain. Using his scroll, and Jacques' credentials, he turned off the town's heating grid, thus allowing the temperature to drop low enough for the rain to turn into snow. After the rain had fully turned into snow, he dropped his umbrella onto the streets below.
~o~
Ruby and Blake were surrounded by reporters, who mistook Blake for Ruby and wanted to ask her all sorts of questions, mostly sociological or political, but literally everything seemed to be fair game. Most of the time, Ruby used Telepathy to let Blake know how to best answer each question, though sometimes, she let her answer the questions herself.
"Hello, I have a question," a woman from a local TV station said and asked, "What kind of program do you want to see more of?" The woman had short black hair and green eyes, and wore a black suit, and she got a bit too much in Blake's face.
"Not so close, please," Blake said, stepped back a bit and answered, "But as for shows, I'd like something about… dragons. But not as bad guys. About cow-sized, neck and tail about as long as the body, and wingspan a bit shorter than the body's total length. Something like dragon-riders fighting evil. And different dragons have different scale colors, tail weapons, and breaths." The woman and the few people around her all took notes. Following another question, Blake talked about a show that never made it past its pilot episode, called Constance Rayne. Suddenly, Ruby felt a shiver go down her spine and found herself back in her own body.
~o~
With his body doing its own thing, James walked through the depths of his soul, trying to find a way to break his curse and regain control to save Atlas from Sirena, and then Salem. He wandered through the seemingly endless wasteland, filled with rocks spikes and steep cliffs, with fog covering the ground and clouds blocking out the blue sun. He heard groaning and grunting from a crack in the stone wall, and felt a light breeze come out of it, so he went to look for something to widen the crack and see what was inside. When he couldn't find anything, James decided to use his own two hands, breaking off chunks of rock and making his way into the mountainside, pebble by pebble.
~o~
Weiss was standing with Jaune, Ren and Nora, when she suddenly found herself walking through the hallway of the manor, holding a scroll in her hand. Her sense of balance was completely off again, the entire world sounded incredibly muffled, and she felt something pulling her backwards. She looked around, and down at herself, and realized that she was back in her own body.
"Is everyone back in their own bodies?" Ruby asked over communicator.
"Yes," Weiss answered, "And while I'm glad I'm back, I did notice that I got a lot of weird looks over the past few days."
"Me too," Blake said, "That's called racial profiling. But yes, it's good being me again, even though I am probably going to miss the positive attention."
"Same here," Yang said, "It's good being back, but I already kind of miss seeing my feet."
"Thanks," Weiss said, only mildly annoyed, and asked, "Yang, whose scroll is that?"
"Your mom's," Yang answered, "You'll have to give it back later, though. Also, I put Qrow's number on it, so he can help your mom with her problems."
"Yang, did you follow the script?" Ruby asked.
"A bit," Yang answered, sighed and said, "I got one word right, then everything just… came back. Raven leaving me, Qrow drinking his problems away… I just couldn't stick to the plan. Sorry."
"It's fine," Ruby said, "What matters is that we have the scroll. Now we just need to wait for Sirena's sign."
"Speaking of whom," Jaune said, "I sensed her use one of her semblances on all four of you, just before you switched back."
"Wait, what?" Ruby asked, "What kind of semblance? And how?"
"I don't know what kind," Jaune answered, "But she used it on you first, then on Blake, followed by Weiss, and lastly Yang. I suppose I can try to emulate it, but it'd be difficult."
"Alright, but save that for tomorrow," Ruby said, "If everything isn't going to hell tonight, that is."
"Good, I guess I'll just wait for my cue, then," Weiss said and stood in front of the door to the dining room. On the other side of that door, the fate of the kingdom was being decided, and she could easily step in at any moment. Sirena opened a telepathic channel to her, so she would know exactly when she had to step in.
~o~
James dug through the stone and dirt, breaking away roots, moss and other plants, and followed the faint red glow coming from inside the crack in the stone wall. The wind was picking up, and the slight breeze became a strong gust, as if the world wanted to blow him away.
"I… am not… giving up," James said, breaking off rocks with his bare hands. He was covered in dirt, his clothes were torn, and his hair was disheveled, but he would never give up.
~o~
In the Schnee Manor dining room, Robyn and the councilmen were still talking with General Ironwood. Sirena watched with a mix of interest and satisfaction, and Clover got quite concerned that Sirena seemed so happy about the unfolding events.
"James," Councilwoman Camilla said, "Ever since you were appointed headmaster, there have been Atlesians who were skeptical of one man holding two council seats."
"Yes," General Ironwood said, "That is exactly why we have checks and balances."
"We're supposed to," Councilman Sleet said, "But lately you've been running roughshod all over them, making unilateral decisions without us."
"Councilman, I never intended-" General Ironwood said, but was cut off again.
"What people intend and what they do isn't always the same, General," Councilman Sleet said. A butler came into the room and whispered something to Jacques.
"What? How long?" Jacques asked, the butler whispered again and Jacques asked, "My authorization? Check it again!" The butler left and councilman Sleet looked at Jacques.
"Councilman Schnee?" Councilman Sleet asked, and Jacques nervously fixed his tie.
"What? Yes I- I agree with everything that was just said," Jacques answered. Suddenly, Weiss forced the doors open because she couldn't contain her excitement any longer.
"Wait! You have the wrong man on trial," Weiss said, "I know who's framing Ironwood, and who rigged the election. And my father knows, too. He's been working with him." She put her mother's scroll on the desk and projected a paused video of Jacques and Arthur talking.
"Is that... Dr. Watts?" Councilwoman Camilla asked.
"That's impossible," Councilman Sleet said, "He died in the Paladin incident years ago."
"You mean like I died in that fire a few weeks ago?" Weiss asked and said, "Now, let's see what these two have been talking about." She started the video, and everyone watched Jacques and Arthur discuss how Arthur would help Jacques win the election, if Jacques let Arthur access the entire city in return.
"That's enough," General Ironwood said, standing next to Weiss, and Weiss paused the video. Jacques wanted to say something, but Sirena spoke up first.
"Now I get it," Sirena said and asked, "You lied to Niob about your plans for Weiss and the SDC, then sent assassins to have her killed before she makes it back to Atlas, and agreed to help Arthur. Then, once the Grimm had destroyed Mantle, you would have swooped in, generously agreed to rebuild the entire city, and used the opportunity to effectively buy all of Mantle so you could pressure the council into giving you full control over the kingdom, since you would now control the only source of dust that could keep Atlas alive. Isn't that right?" She used her Oathmaker semblance to make him answer truthfully, but used her Semblance Reversal semblance on herself to make him lie instead.
"Of course it is!" Jacques answered, stood up and slammed his hands on the table. The rest of the council gasped, and Jacques looked a bit confused as he tried to figure out why he just said that. Sirena used her Subliminal Message semblance to make him swat his cup of tea towards Camilla and run away. In the heat of the moment and his confusion, he couldn't think about it and just acted on the impulse. Councilman Sleet tried to grab Jacques, but Jacques stabbed him in the thigh with his fork and pushed him backwards. Weiss summoned an Apathy and had it use its will-draining screech, causing her father to slow down and eventually drop to the ground after he had walked a few steps down the hallway. She then summoned two Arma Gigas the size of regular people and had them bring Jacques back to her. After they had brought Jacques to her, she the pulled out her scroll and made it display her huntress license.
"Jacques Schnee, you're under arrest," Weiss said, turned to Ironwood and asked, "I can do that, right?" General Ironwood nodded slightly.
"What is that?" Clover asked when he saw the Apathy standing in the door, and what it did to Jacques. Sirena went to help Councilwoman Camilla get the hot tea off her face and clothes, the turned her attention to Councilman Sleet.
"Don't worry, it won't hurt," Sirena said, put her right hand on Councilman Sleet's left shoulder and pulled the fork from his leg with her left hand while using her Pain Absorption semblance to take his pain. After putting the fork away, she put her left hand on the wound and healed the injury.
"Thank you, huntress," Councilwoman Camilla said.
"Yes, thank you," Councilman Sleet said, "I think we all know that Jacques Schnee must be tried, for conspiracy against the kingdom of Atlas and its people, attempted murder, and high treason." Suddenly, all the council members got a notification on their scrolls that the heat had gone off, and that Grimm were attacking. Ruby contacted everyone over communicator.
"We're leaving, the Grimm are early," Ruby said.
"Got it," Weiss said. Sirena pulled out her scroll, called Dr. Acacia and walked away from the group.
"Sophie, initiate Mantle defense protocol Beta Juliett," Sirena said, "Modified with Combat Drone semblance and steam-dust. Use Deathzone on the steam-dust, and kill Grimm on contact." She hung up and left the room, leaving both General Ironwood and Clover with the realization that the head of their most promising weapons program since Penny had been completely under Sirena's control the entire time.
Author's note: Sirena has taught Sophie quite a few defense protocols for each major city, for every possibility. And yes, she can take other people's pain. However, the pain scales with her personal threshold, so it feels as painful to her as it would to whoever she takes the pain from. Not that she'd let anyone know this, but still. And yes, she could've called a few people, but chose June specifically to remind Ironwood and Clover who was in charge.
Constance Rayne is a reference to Constant Paine, a cartoon from early 2001 that never made it past its pilot. You can find it on Youtube. It has an amazing father/daughter dynamic, fascinating world, and great plot. Also, in case you're going to watch it, keep in mind that the project was cancelled in June, and thus a certain scene couldn't have caused its cancellation. It was actually a financial decision because the creative team disagreed with their boss over whether they should have basic rights.
Anyway, I tried adding a short montage thing where the girls got used to each other's bodies. That... sounded worse than intended.